The Lost Voice Read online

  “I can’t think of anything I’ve done that would call attention to myself,” she answered, narrowing her eyebrows in concentration. “If they are after me though, nowhere is safe. All they have to do is walk through that flimsy door,” she pointed to it, “and they’ve got me. No one will even stop them as they drag me away screaming.”

  Carl’s gaze was intense with worry as he turned his thoughts inward. After a moment he said, “Any chance it was Major Topher and he just wanted to talk to you? Or maybe one of the others who are on Jessamine’s side?”

  Risa shrugged hopelessly and said, “If it was, why would they bother sneaking up behind me instead of just calling out to me and letting me know who they were?”

  Carl exhaled heavily through his nose, and the silence hung between them for another long moment before he said, “I know you don’t love my career choice, Risa, but I swear to you I will do everything I can to figure out who the traitors are and why they might have gone after you tonight. It can’t be Jessamine’s allies stalking Gifted in the night, so for right now, our enemies and her enemies are one and the same.”

  Risa frowned thoughtfully and said, “I know—and I know I haven’t been great about your new position. I just…it’s hard. It’s taking me time to sort through my feelings about it, and I still haven’t entirely figured them out yet. I don’t want the Augenspire to devour you the way it did Topher, and I certainly don’t want you to die trying to root out terrorists.”

  Carl smiled sadly and said, “I understand. When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be ready to listen. In the meantime, let’s put it aside and just get through the night. Do you want me to stay?”

  Risa blinked twice as she considered his offer. With no curfew, he was actually allowed to be out of his dormitory all night if he chose to be, as long as he maintained his official residence in the Academy.

  “I…would appreciate it, yes.”

  Carl nodded curtly and settled into an armchair by the door.

  “I’m not sure what good it’ll do, if a Provo-Major busts in here in their heavy armor intent on killing us.”

  Carl shrugged and said, “I’m not sure, but let’s not forget why they went to all the trouble of making us second-class citizens and stripping away our rights.”

  “Why is that?”

  Carl smiled now and said, “Because they fear us. If one of them busts in here, let’s give them something to be afraid of.”

  9

  Jessamine Elaria

  A half-eaten meal grew cold on the coffee table while Jessamine read through her schedule for the next day.

  “You really should eat,” Hanna reminded her, not for the first time. “A body needs food to run, or it’ll waste away.”

  Jessamine’s assistant was perched on the couch amid a pile of pillows and blankets while she herself sat on the floor, resting on bent legs to pore over the papers on the table. Hanna had assured her she didn’t need to be coddled over something as minor as a near-fatal stabbing, but Jessamine insisted on her assistant taking the more comfortable seating until she fully recovered.

  “I’ll eat later,” Jessamine said airily, frowning down at a line item that caught her eye. “Why is there an hour-long appointment booked for Darius on here?”

  “You say you’ll eat later every time I ask. It’s been days, Jessamine. Starving yourself isn’t going to make you more effective as a leader.”

  The Vicereine scowled and said, “I’m not starving myself, Hanna. I just haven’t been terribly hungry as of late, and there’s so much work to do that I never seem to have time for eating anyway. Now tell me why my husband-in-waiting has booked my time for an hour tomorrow.”

  Hanna looked like she wanted to press the issue of food, but ultimately decided against it.

  “He says he hasn’t spoken more than ten words to you in the last week, and was displeased at the lack of time you two have had to…” Hanna paused, biting her lip to stifle a laugh, “…connect.”

  Jessamine’s scowl deepened. Does Darius really think his desire to form a romantic bond with me takes precedence over the work I’m trying to do?

  Hanna added, “He seems to be having a hard time of things here, with you and Shellina both closeted up in meetings and other obligations, and him left to his own devices.”

  At the limit of her patience, Jessamine stood up and snapped, “Oh, well by all means let me drop everything because Darius is lonely.” She paced the room to vent her frustration. “The General Assembly wants funding for an overhaul of the western bridges, Rolf is on my back for money to replace a quarter of the outdated sky fleet, Andrea needs my approval for the redistricting of fifty-thousand ground troops, I have to meet about a hundred more bankers, businessmen and guild leaders to prevent them from feeling snubbed by the new Vicereine, I have a wedding in six weeks—”

  “Jessamine—”

  Jessamine ignored the interruption.

  “I’m still sorting through my father’s legal documents with his attorney, I need to coordinate auditions for all of the candidates to replace Fox and Parl as Provo-Major, I promised the Gifted I would ram through some more legislation towards giving them their rights back, Topher is barely speaking to me, and—oh yeah—there might still be assassins interwoven throughout the thirty-thousand people who work in this building. But really, I look forward to having Darius explain his suffering to me for an hour tomorrow,” she wound down, breathing heavily.

  Hanna said nothing as Jessamine put her head in her hands, attempting to force back the surge of anger.

  “I’m sorry, Hanna,” she said after a long moment of silence. “I’m tired, and scared, and—yes, lonely. I don’t know how I can be surrounded by people all day long and still feel so isolated, but I do.”

  Hanna moved off of the couch with obvious effort, taking care not to pull at her still-healing wounds as she lowered herself to the floor beside Jessamine.

  She took Jessamine’s hand. “You’ve got the hardest job on the entire planet, and it’s taking its toll on you. Maybe it would be good if you delegated some of your work to Darius,” she suggested brightly. “It would give him a way to be involved and feel more useful, and it would lighten your load as well.”

  “That’s—a really good idea.” Jessamine hadn’t really considered the option of giving Darius something to do, and she felt like an idiot for overlooking the possibility. “Hanna, you’re amazing.”

  “How could you think of anything when you’re just trying to keep your head above water?” Hanna smiled at the compliment.

  Giving it some real thought, Jessamine said, “The problem is, he’s not terribly qualified for most of my work. It would have to be something on the business side…something not terribly important, in case he does it poorly.”

  “What about the meetings with the bankers and guild leaders?” Hanna offered. “By tradition, the new Viceregal has a meeting with each of them, but there’s nothing in the rulebook that says you have to attend them all in person. In fact, your father only went to a few dozen of his meetings and sent your mother or members of the General Assembly to the rest on his behalf.”

  Jessamine nodded and reached for a half-eaten roll on her plate, taking an absent-minded bite. Hanna smiled even wider.

  “You’re right. Darius will feel comfortable at those meetings, since he’ll know most of the big players through his shipping company and social connections. It would get him out and about in Silveria, and give him something useful to do for me.” She took another decisive bite of her roll, exhaling a breath of relief at freeing up about a hundred hours from her schedule. “Yes, that’s an excellent idea.”

  “You could ask Major Topher to coordinate the tryouts for the vacant Major positions. He’s certainly qualified to do so, though you’ll need to give the final interviews and approvals before anyone is confirmed,” Hanna suggested.

  Jessamine’s flicker of energy abandoned her as abruptly as it came.

  “Topher is extremely busy with th
e mountain of work I’ve recently assigned him. And he’s made it perfectly clear that I’ve burned my bridges with him since becoming Vicereine, and he doesn’t seem eager to mend them.”

  Saying it out loud made her want to cry. She took another bite of roll instead, chewing and swallowing it painfully to give herself something to do.

  “I don’t deny he’s been a little distant recently,” Hanna admitted. “But maybe he’s just reacting to the stress of his job in his own way.”

  “He tried to comfort me after I learned of my father’s death and I pushed him away,” Jessamine confessed. “I didn’t mean for it to happen that way—I just wanted him to stop worrying over me in public, but I think he took it as a request to stop caring about me at all.”

  “Well then, go clear up the misunderstanding.”

  Jessamine shook her head. “I’ve been trying to for weeks, but he declines every offer. I feel him slipping away. Sometimes I wonder if he thinks less of me because—” she paused here, almost slipping and giving away her secret.

  “Because of what?” Hanna asked.

  Jessamine paused here and searched her friend’s face. Weary of lies and deception, she wondered if Hanna would turn against her or if her own judgment was sound.

  “I’m Gifted, Hanna,” she said quietly. “No one ever knew but my father, and Topher found out on the night of the attack. Now you know, too.”

  “Well, now, there’s a thing to know,” Hanna blinked as she absorbed this new information. “But you can’t think Topher holds that against you?”

  Expecting a much stronger—and more negative—reaction than this, Jessamine could feel the knot of tension in her chest loosen.

  “Why not? Don’t you?”

  “Of course not. There’s nothing wrong with being Gifted—isn’t that what you’ve been telling everyone for years? We’re all people, and we’re all worth the same.”

  Jessamine gave her a small smile and said, “Glad to hear you’ve been listening to my speeches.” Then, more seriously, “I don’t know how Topher feels about it, though. You know a lot of the Majors have a more archaic view of the Gifted, especially since their traditional role has been to wage war against them. And Topher and I never really had a chance to talk about it after he found out, since we were fleeing the Augenspire at the time.”

  “Just talk to him and clear up the misunderstanding.”

  “How do you propose I get him alone if he refuses to speak to me?”

  Hanna pursed her lips and said, “You’re his boss. Insist that he speak with you.”

  “I don’t like to use my power to force people to talk to me against their will.”

  “You do things you don’t like all the time. You’re just afraid of what you might say to each other when you do talk, and you’re letting your fear paralyze you.”

  The words hit their mark, and Jessamine opened her mouth to acknowledge the truth in them just as someone knocked on the door.

  They exchanged identical looks of surprise at the intrusion.

  “Are you expecting visitors?” Hanna whispered.

  “No.” Jessamine rose to her feet and withdrew a knife from the sheath on her belt, but before she could approach the door it beeped and opened from the outside.

  “Hi Jessa, is this a good—dear God,” Shellina stopped in her tracks, alarmed. “Are you going to stab me?”

  Jessamine exhaled in relief and returned the knife to her belt.

  “Just being careful. Come in.” Jessamine waved her over and resumed her seat around the coffee table. “You should warn me next time you plan on visiting, though; I’m still a little jumpy about people accessing my rooms at night.”

  “Oh—right, of course!” Shellina blushed, embarrassed at the oversight. “I’m sorry…I didn’t even think about it.”

  “It’s fine. What brings you to see me at this time of night?”

  Shellina looked awkwardly at Hanna and then moved to sit on the couch, perhaps wondering if Jessamine was going to send her assistant away. As far as Jessamine was concerned, Hanna had more than earned her trust and could remain if she chose to.

  “Wedding details, actually. The big day will be here sooner than you think, and there are a few things I need to get your approval on as soon as possible.”

  Jessamine hated thinking about her wedding and wished she could just ignore it entirely until the day passed her by, but she sighed and forced herself to be attentive.

  “Like what?”

  “Well, we’ve got the venue booked and the catering contracts lined up—should I give you a list of them all to review?”

  “No, I trust your judgment with the food and drinks,” Jessamine assured her sister, thinking there could be no greater hell than being forced to sift through dozens of menus to pick out food she probably wouldn’t eat three bites of anyway.

  Shellina beamed at this sign of faith and said, “Great. Well there’s still the issue of invites, and I know we reviewed them earlier but I need to know for certain how many total people you want to allow in. I’ve already drafted them up for all of our personal acquaintances, a percentage of the staff, and key business leaders around the world, but I assume you also want to allow the public in…?”

  “Yes,” Jessamine confirmed. “As far as I’m concerned, you can invite everyone in the city.”

  Shellina frowned and said, “We can’t get millions of people into the Laurel, you know. Maybe ten thousand, if we push it and utilize the outdoor gardens as well.”

  “The Laurel sits on a fair bit of land, given its location. Set up an outdoor and indoor party,” Hanna suggested.

  Shellina looked at her like she was insane.

  “The Laurel may have some land, but it is near downtown and impossible to restrict access to. People will be crowding into the streets and blocking traffic for miles in all directions.”

  “Then block the streets off,” Jessamine shrugged, knowing what a massive undertaking it would be for Shellina to coordinate, but unwilling to be moved. “I don’t want this to be another elitist social gathering that excludes most of the working class and the Gifted. Make it an open invitation and plan to section off streets accordingly.”

  Shellina grimaced and said, “You realize the security nightmare you’re planning, don’t you? If everyone in the city suddenly has access to you when your Majors are supposed to be off duty—”

  “I agree, Vicereine,” Hanna interjected before Jessamine could respond, surprising everyone in the room. Hanna rarely agreed with Shellina on anything. “I know you want to be inclusive, but we must consider your safety.”

  Shellina nodded curtly in approval, and Jessamine narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

  “Fine, then make the outdoor portion open to anyone but entry to the Laurel by invitation only—you can color-code the two differently or something.” She waved a hand at this minor detail. “We’ll post security at all the entrances to make sure no one unauthorized gets in, and set up monitors outside to show the ceremony itself.”

  “I guess that would be okay,” Shellina allowed. “I would just need to know if there is anyone in particular to include on the elite invite list—anyone I wouldn’t think to include on my own.”

  Jessamine began counting off on her fingers. “Anyone working above level two-fifty of this building, anyone Rolf or Skye want to reward particularly from their troops, top-ranking Minors, leaders of large financial institutions or businesses around the world—but especially in Silveria…”

  “All planned for,” Shellina smiled brightly.

  “Give away a hundred or so invites to the general public, through media stations or non-profit organizations to raffle off.”

  “Sure, that’s a good—”

  “And reserve some invites for the Academy,” Jessamine concluded.

  “The—the Gifted?” Shellina looked scandalized. “Jessa, you can’t be serious.”

  “Why not?” the Vicereine asked in her flattest tone.

  Her sister lo
oked to Hanna for support, saw nothing there, and continued on alone.

  “Jessa, I know you want to reintegrate them into society—I don’t agree with it, mind you, but I understand your goals and support you in them. But they’re dangerous, like wild animals.”

  “They’re people,” Jessamine frowned at her sister, wondering whether Shellina would think she was a wild animal if her sister knew the truth.

  “They have freakish powers no human should have,” Shellina corrected her. “They went to war against our great-grandfather—and yes, I know he forced their hand, but they still killed a lot of soldiers before they were contained—and they’ve been rebelling against our family ever since. We still don’t know if they were behind the razor-spike attack on you—”

  “I’m pretty confident Fox and Parl were behind the razor-spikes,” Jessamine said bluntly, wondering, as always, whether any of the other Majors or Minors colluded with them. She was still having her Minors investigated as quickly as possible, but it would take years to get through them all at this pace.

  “But no one is supposed to be armed in your presence at the wedding, except for your security,” Shellina pointed out, looking strangely victorious.

  “So?” Jessamine asked, failing to see the issue.

  “The Gifted wouldn’t be allowed to wear their emblems into the Laurel while you’re there, but it’s illegal for them to be without their emblems, so it won’t work.”

  Jessamine briefly considered passing a law here and now that the Gifted no longer had to publicly display or wear their emblems, but she would probably be murdered this very night if she made such a big step.

  One day, she promised herself.

  “Then we will make it known to our security team that Gifted will be permitted to wear their emblems in the Laurel for this special event. As a compromise—” she added, before Shellina could protest, “—we will screen the Gifted we extend invites to, to only include those who have had a clean Academy record and have never been accused or convicted of criminal activity. If they’ve kept a clean record for all these years, then they are better than half the general populace and deserve to be rewarded for it.”